So I’m finally free to announce the news I’ve been trying to keep to myself (mostly successfully). I’ve got a new agent — Larry Kirshbaum of LJK Literary Management. Honestly, there wasn’t anything wrong with my old agent. She was perfectly nice and lovely and I’d happily recommend people to her. But after talking with Larry and meeting with him, we seemed to really click.
In the continuing saga of “how I got an agent” this goes under the heading of coincidences and juxtapositions. So, remember how I was interviewed on NPR by Margot Adler (squee!)? And Margot loved my book? Well, Larry happens to live in Margot’s building and was riding the elevator with her one day. She told him about my book and how it was her favorite out of all the vampire books she’d read (75 at that count). So he checked it out. And he liked it. So he sent me an email to ask if I had an agent.
Let me stop and tell you a bit about Larry here. He used to be the CEO of Time Warner Books before he started an agency. He was named the 2005 Publishing’s Person of the Year by Publishers Weekly. He’s worked with James Patterson and Dean Koontz and Nicholas Sparks and Donald Trump and all kinds of other authors that I can hardly imagine saying my name in the same sentence with. There’s more, but that gives you a hint.
So even though I was overall happy with my agent, I thought I at least ought to give the man a listen. He came out to Chicago and we went to dinner (I have to give a plug for Phil Stefani’s 437 Rush here…it was awesome AND the maître d sang opera!) and talked. And we clicked really nicely. He read some of my new stuff (like the book I’m working on now) and I just really felt we connected and were on the same page (and no, that’s not a publishing pun…okay, maybe it is).
So I made the big decision to switch agents. Which is not something I’d ever thought I’d be doing. Honestly, you get an agent and you’re just so HAPPY to have one you want to do a dance. I never thought I’d be switching unless we had serious creative differences, which we didn’t.
Anyway, I’ll still be working with Tamar on the rights for the first two books (she’s still working on selling foreign rights on Sucks to Be Me and Still Sucks to Be Me), but all the new stuff will be with Larry, provided everything works out okay. And I think it will. I’ve got a good feeling about it.
In completely other-ish personal news, I’m going to China. It’s official today since the Chinese Consulate granted my visa (whew!). We’re going to be in Shanghai for two weeks, so if you don’t see a lot of blog posts or anything through the first part of April, that’s why! I also (obviously) won’t be able to check my PO Box either, so any bookplate requests will have to be taken care of after we get back.
There will, of course, be pictures.
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